Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report - September 2005
9/1/2005
The September 2005 issue of the Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report is a quarterly report designed to keep you up to date on the prices of alternative fuels and conventional fuels in the U.S. This issue summarizes prices that were collected in the month of September 2005 from Clean Cities Coordinators, fuel providers, and other Clean Cities stakeholders.
Authors: Laughlin, M.
BSCL Use Plan: Solving Biomass Recalcitrance
8/31/2005
Saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass has long been recognized as a potential low-cost source of mixed sugars for fermentation to fuel ethanol or chemicals. Several technologies have been developed over the years that allow this conversion process to occur, yet the significant challenge remaining is to make the process cost competitive. For example, although total acid hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass has until recently been considered to be the most cost-effective process, it is still not competitive with petroleum and represents relatively mature technology with only modest opportunities for further cost reductions.
Authors: Himmel,Mike; Vinzant,Todd; Bower, Stanley; Jechura, John
Laying the Foundation for Biorefineries
8/30/2005
The 20th century was the century of the petrochemical economy. Biomass-derived fuels, chemicals, power, and materials will make the 21st centuryone in which domestic farmers and foresters help fuel as well as feed andhouse America. Advanced biomass conversion technology will play amajor role in eliminating the need for imported oil and the generation ofgreenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels. As the only renewable sourceof carbon-based fuels and chemicals, biomass will be a critical componentin reducing oil imports and environmental burdens from relying on fossilresources for fuels and chemicals. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)is supporting technology development for biorefineries and other biomassconversion industries, and the National Bioenergy Center (NBC) is thefocal point for research to make this technology possible.
Authors: U.S. DOE Biomass Program
RTD Biodiesel (B20) Transit Bus Evaluation: Interim Review Summary
8/1/2005
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has been working with the Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver, Blue Sun Biodiesel, and Power Service Products to evaluate the in-use performance of buses operating on B20 (20% biodiesel and 80% conventional diesel fuel). Nine mechanically identical 40-foot transit buses (five operated on B20, four on conventional diesel) are being compared over the same duty cycle, the 'Skip' route in Boulder, Colorado. In addition, laboratory tests compared the buses for fuel economy and emissions. This report summarizes the interim results for the period August 2004 through February 2005.
Authors: Proc, K.; Barnitt, R.; McCormick, R.L.
Yosemite Waters Vehicle Evaluation Report: Final Results
8/1/2005
This study was a joint effort between the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The overall goal of the project was to evaluate the use of gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuel in combination with passive catalytic regenerative particle filters in real-world service and characterize regulated and unregulated exhaust pollutant emissions from GTL fuel in comparison to petroleum-derived diesel fuel.
Authors: Eudy, L.; Barnitt, R.; Alleman, T.
Biomethane from Dairy Waste: A Sourcebook for the Production and Use of Renewable Natural Gas in California
7/1/2005
This report examines the feasibility of producing biomethane from dairy manure. We investigated a number of possible technologies for producing renewable forms of energy and fuel from dairy wastes as well as applications and markets for these products. Although some of the applications proved to be technically or economically infeasible at this time, we believe that the information gathered could prove useful for other investigators or future studies. With this in mind, we designed this sourcebook for readers and investigators interested in exploring alternate uses of biogas created from dairy wastes.
Authors: Krich, K.; Augenstein, D.; Batmale, J.P.; Benemann, J.; Rutledge, B.; Salour, D.; Wright, J., Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, California State University, Fresno, CA
Biodiesel Cold Weather Blending Study
6/30/2005
Increased use of biodiesel has created some handling challenges for bringing blended fuels to the consumer. The most immediate handling concern for blenders is assurance that diesel fuels and biodiesel can be blended uniformly and in a single phase, particularly in colder climates. Neat biodiesel has a much higher cloud point than conventional diesel fuels and this can impact handling procedures. This concern became a priority after Minnesota passed a law requiring all on-higthway diesel fuels to contain at least 2% biodiesel as early as 1 July 2005.
Authors: Cold Flow Consortium
Quantifying Cradle-to-Farm Gate Life Cycle Impacts Associated with Fertilizer used for Corn, Soybean, and Stover Production
5/30/2005
Fertilizers used to increase the yield of crops used for food or bio-based products can migrate through the environment and potentially cause adverse environmental impacts. Nitrogen fertilizers have a complex biogeochemical cycle. Through their transformations and partitioning among environmental compartments, they can contribute to eutrophication of surface waters at local and regional scales, groundwater degradation, acid rain, and climate change. Phosphate fertilizers have a simpler fate in the environment, although leaching of soluble and bound phosphorus is an important contributor to eutrophication.
Authors: Powers, Susan E.
Mobility Chains Analysis of Technologies for Passenger Cars and Light-Duty Vehicles Fueled with Biofuels: Application of the GREET Model to the Role of Biomass in America's Energy Future (RBAEF) Project
5/30/2005
The Role of Biomass in America?s Energy Future (RBAEF) is a multi-institution, multiple-sponsor research project. The primary focus of the project is to analyze and assess the potential of transportation fuels derived from cellulosic biomass in the years 2015 to 2030. For this project, researchers at Dartmouth College and Princeton University designed and simulated an advanced fermentation process to produce fuel ethanol/protein, a thermochemical process to produce Fischer-Tropsch diesel (FTD) and dimethyl ether (DME), and a combined heat and power plant to co-produce steam and electricity using the ASPEN Plus? model. With support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) conducted, for the RBAEF project, a mobility chains or well-to-wheels (WTW) analysis using the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model developed at ANL. The mobility chains analysis was intended to estimate the energy consumption and emissions associated with the use of different production biofuels in light-duty vehicle technologies.
Authors: Wu, May; Wu, Ye; Wang, Michael
Well-to-Wheels Analysis of Advanced Fuel/Vehicle Systems - A North American Study of Energy Use, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Criteria Pollutant Emissions
5/30/2005
An accurate assessment of future fuel/propulsion system options requires a complete vehicle fuel-cycle analysis, commonly called a well-to-wheels (WTW) analysis. In this WTW study, we analyzed energy use and emissions associated with fuel production (or well-to-tank [WTT]) activities and energy use andemissions associated with vehicle operation (or tank-to-wheels [TTW])activities. Energy resources, such as petroleum, natural gas (NG), coal, and biomass, as well as the energy carrier, electricity, are considered as feedstocks to produce various transportation fuels, including gasoline, diesel fuel, hydrogen (H2), ethanol (EtOH), compressed natural gas (CNG), methanol (MeOH), and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) diesel. The propulsion systems evaluated were spark-ignition (SI) engines, compression-ignition (CI) engines, hydrogen fuel cells, and fuel processor fuel cells, all in non-hybrid and hybrid electric configurations.This study updates and supplements a previous (2001) North American study, conducted by GM and others (General Motors [GM] et al. 2001), of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with advanced vehicle/fuel systems (GM Phase 1 North American study). The primary purposeof this Phase 2 study is to address criteria pollutant emissions, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 10 microns (PM10), and sulfur oxide emissions (SOx). We also updated the vehicle modeling for energyconsumption with the latest powertrain maps and added some additional propulsion systems, such as hydrogen internal combustion engines (ICEs).As in the previous study, the vehicle modeled was a 2010-model-year, full-sized GM pickup truck. The truck was selected because it is a high seller among light-duty vehicles (cars and trucks) in the U.S. market, and light-duty trucks account for a large proportion of the fuel used in the U.S. vehicle fleet. In our study, we attempted
Authors: Brinkman, Norman; Wang, Michael; Weber, Trudy; Darlington, Thomas
Alternative Fuels Commercialization in Support of the 2005 Integrated Energy Policy Report
5/1/2005
California's demand for transportation fuels has increased 53 percent in the last 20 years and in the next 20 years, gasoline and diesel demand will increase another 36 percent. California refineries rely increasingly on imported petroleum products to meet this demand. In 2003, the California Energy Commission and the California Air Resources Board adopted a two-pronged strategy to reduce petroleum demand: promoting improved vehicle efficiency, and increasing use of alternative fuels. This report discusses those alternative fuels used in transportation, including biodiesel, electricity, ethanol, gas to liquid fuels, hydrogen, liquefied petroleum gas (propane), and natural gas.
Authors: California Energy Commission Staff
Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report - March 28, 2005
3/28/2005
This is the fourteenth issue of the Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, a quarterly newsletter keeping you up to date on the prices of alternative fuels in the U.S. and their relation to gasoline and diesel prices. This issue discusses prices that were gathered from Clean Cities coordinators and stakeholders between March 8 and March 22, 2005, with comparisons to the prices in the previous Price Report, which were collected in November, 2004. The changes in prices from one reporting period to the next can be attributed not only to price volatility, but also to an inconsistent set of respondents. Thus, differences from one report to the next should not be assumed to reflect trends.
Authors: Lott, M.
Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, and Risk Management
2/1/2005
The peaking of world oil production presents the U.S. and the world with an unprecedented risk management problem. As peaking is approached, liquid fuel prices and price volatility will increase dramatically, and without timely mitigation, the economic, social, and political costs will be unprecedented. Viable mitigation options exist on both the supply and demand sides but to have substantial impact, they must be initiated more than a decade in advance of peaking.
Authors: Hirsch, R.L.; Bezdek, R.; Wendling, R.
Ending the Energy Stalemate: A Bipartisan Strategy to Meet America's Energy Challenges
12/1/2004
A bipartisan group of top energy experts from industry, government, labor, academia, and environmental and consumer groups produced this report to address major long-term U.S. energy challenges. The report contains detailed policy recommendations for addressing oil security, climate change, natural gas supply, the future of nuclear energy, and other long-term challenges, and is backed by more than 30 original research studies.